Leaning against an ancient tree, arms casually folded across his chest, stood a young man not much older than she. Blonde wavy hair fell back from his angular face, with both sides shaved and the top left long. The man dragged a hand through his thick strands, gaze never leaving her. His irises were the strangest hue Camille had ever seen: a bleached blue, almost devoid of color; like the bright tinge of the sky at high noon.
“Well hello to you too,” he responded, pushing away from the trunk to saunter closer, a broad grin spanning his face. He glanced at the dagger she still held and chuckled. “You thinking of stabbing me? Or do I get a proper hello?”
Camille kept the knife raised, a slight tremor in her hand. “Stay back stranger, who are you?”
Praetorian Rising, Chapter 2 – Hide and Seek
Theo Shaehy was born of a man I hold near and dear to my heart. He also embodies the struggle and frustration I feel a lot of men have suffered over. Theo is in love with Camille, has been from the day he met her all those many moons ago, and yet when he happens upon Camille this first moment she has no recollection of who he is. The pain of being forgotten, and the angst of wanting what you can’t have is the central core of who Theo started out to be when writing this character.
Over the years, Theo has blossomed into so much more for me. He is cocky, pig headed, overly confident; and yet he has a true heart of gold. He always does what is right and tries with hopeful desperation to get Camille to see what they once were even if she has no recollection of their history.
I see Vesyon often as the man with a life long lived, regrets piling up and a mountain of desires that he knows he can’t have all controlled behind the veneer of calm maturity he’s learned to maintain. Theo is the complete opposite. He’s loud, openly crass with his bravado and abilities, and he is very vocal in telling Camille how he feels. Secrets bother Theo and yet he understands why he must keep what he knows from Camille at all costs.
Theo has secrets and they tear him up inside because he wants so desperately to be idolized by Camille in the same fashion he loves and adores her. Like a perfect soldier, Theo is true to his word and he follows Vesyon into every battle with the loyalty of someone that knows who their leader is and why.
When writing the dynamic between Vesyon and Theo I wanted to bring to light the closeness of Aragon and Legolas from LOTR and yet slip in the anguish and frustration of Stephan and Damon (The Vampire Diaries). They love each other as brothers should, and yet they argue and fight and disagree on an often basis. The pull of honor mixed with the desires of the heart is a great dynamic between two solid male characters and I love being able to explore the levels of trust and deception between the two male leads.
“What’s this? A hunter off her guard?” A silky voice remarked from behind her as a blade pressed into her back.
Camille’s fingers instantly froze, her heart speeding into triple overtime. The voice was familiar, but deeper in timbre than Vesyon’s.
She leaned slightly forward and spun, kicking out her right leg to throw him off balance. He leaped away, and Camille pursued him, throwing another kick that landed successfully against his left shoulder. “Ow—hey!” he shouted, glacier-blue eyes dancing with playfulness.
He arced the sword in her direction, and Camille ducked, yelling as it whooshed mere inches over her head. “It’s you!” Camille burst out, shoving the blond drifter she’d seen in Sierra Village against a nearby tree so hard that his sword flew into some nearby bushes. “You—you just tried to stab me!”
Praetorian Rising, Chapter 7 – Strangers in the Forest
Camille and Theo have a very explosive connection and I wanted to write in a such a way to ensure the writers felt the tug and pull between them as much as I did when writing it. I would never say that Praetorian Rising is a romance novel, no where near it! But every great story has an incredible base of love and devotion and Camille and Theo will become a great yet tortured love story.
In a lot of ways, Theo was born out of my own personal experience in my dating life. Not to go into intense detail, but I too had a guy that I once dated and took time away from him (though in Camille’s world, not by choice!) and came back to find him as well as myself different people. Experience and emotional traumas have a way of changing us, I feel in the most painful yet dynamic ways. I wouldn’t be the person I am if I hadn’t experienced the relationships I had. Theo wouldn’t be him without the struggle and suffering he’s been through. I won’t lie, he is in for an incredible story and I hope that you pick up a copy of Praetorian Rising to find out the start of his amazing story. It only gets better from here!
I feel like every book has it’s moment in the sunshine where it says, ‘I don’t want to be labeled with a price, I want to be a free voice to the world!’
Or at least I feel like that is what Camille or Vesyon would say when it comes to Praetorian Rising. I have great news for you my friends. Starting RIGHT THIS MINUTE if you are a Kindle Unlimited subscriber you can download Praetorian Rising FOR FREE. I know, it’s pretty exciting. I myself use Kindle Unlimited because I tend to run through a lot of books at a time. I often read 3 to 7 books at once. Some are kindle, some are audible, but I feel like the more options I have, the better. Kindle unlimited makes it easy to keep up to 10 titles on a rotating list enabling you not just a free book to read, but also the flexibility to read that free book whenever you want. If you want anther book and you hit your limit, you pass back a book you read and get another fresh FREE one. It’s great. I am really excited for Praetorian Rising to be a part of Kindle Unlimited to ensure that my possible readers have the opportunity to read this Indie book. Sometimes the only thing holding someone back from an indie is the price tag.
Second, I know some of you might be saying, ‘I don’t USE Kindle Unlimited!’ Well that is totally ok, I am doing something special for you too! Starting on Saturday Praetorian Rising Ebook will be on sale for a full five days. The price tag: FREE! Anyone can download, anyone can read it and KEEP it, and you don’t have to pay a cent for it.
I want to give every possible reader the opportunity to snag this book. From Saturday, 1/25/20 to Wednesday, 1/29/20 PRAETORIAN RISING EBOOK WILL BE FREE OF CHARGE TO DOWNLOAD.
I hope you all are as excited as I am about this. Please share to your friends and family if you think they will be interested in reading this book! Direct them to the about if they are interested in the details of this book 🙂
You are amazing my Rogue Rebels! More to come soon!!
Wind whistled through the dense overgrowth of Dun L’er Forest, a high-pitched whir of warning dogging his every step. The rustling maple and stark pine trees hunched like ghostly sentinels, the foggy fingers of breaking dawn stretching toward him as he ran. They were watching him, the ancient eyes of the forest, their aged and weathered limbs creaking against the pressured air. They would hold his secrets in their entombed silence, but the gods knew what he’d done.
– Praetorian Rising, Chapter 1 – Lost Memories
Vesyon Vestra (Veh-see-on Veh-straw) is the embodiment of the tortured hero. In a lot of ways, he is split between what he would like to do, and what he knows he must to for the betterment of Aspera. His honor doesn’t always win out and it’s in those moments that I feel Vesyon is my most raw and honest character. He admits to his flaws and accepts his own internal weaknesses and yet he is one of the strongest of them all.
As leader of the Rogue Rebellion, Vesyon isn’t afraid of what might come of him. His goal is to protect the people and ensure the safety of them all, and yet, his ulterior motives always slip in between the cracks leaving his intentions pure and tainted all at the same time.
Without a doubt Vesyon Vestra was born of my love for Aragon. The imagery and the strength exudes from his stance, and yet I feel Vesyon is more of a tortured soul. With the weight of his history weighing him down, mixed with the pressure of his own hidden emotions; Vesyon makes for a very mysterious and dark character. And yet, it’s impossible not to love him and the role he takes within the world of Praetorian Rising. One thing I think I love most is that not every hero is perfect, they have flaws and often they are not living their life with the desire to BE a hero. Vesyon is a great embodiment of an anti-hero; he doesn’t do it for the glory or because he strives for the spotlight. Vesyon veers away from the center of the attention leaving the politics to those that enjoy it. His goal is only to protect Camille and to ensure the forward motion of the Rogue Rebellion to give peace and prosperity to all of Aspera.
Interested in these characters so far? There are so many more to come! Stay tuned my Rogue Rebels, next Character Spotlight is Theo Shaehy and this one you won’t want to miss.
The woman’s eyes fluttered open, and she shied away from the intruding light and heat that assaulted her fragile senses. She couldn’t place her location, and her back ached with stiffness as though she hadn’t moved in ages.
“Awake, are you? It’s about time. You’ve been sleeping for days.”
– Praetorian Rising, Chapter 1 – Lost Memory
Camille Scipio is a character I dreamt of out of no where. I woke up one day startled with this incredible character and her immense strength. Not just her abilities but also her internal emotional character, she is a fighter to the very end.
When first meeting Camille in Praetorian Rising you know little of her and I wanted to expand on that to bring the reader along with the confusion and struggle. Camille has no idea who she is, where she came from or where she is when she wakes. Panic fills her, but she soon realizes the comfort of a well kept home. She feels at peace, even if the peace is momentary.
If she was lucky, she’d wake up without recalling the smallest detail of her life before that point. It was cruel to rip away someone’s identity, but they’d had no choice. If even an inkling of her memories survived, they’d all pay for the horrible atrocities inflicted on her mind, body, and soul while she’d been locked inside LeMarc’s torture chamber.
– Praetorian Rising, Chapter 1 – Lost Memory
Writing this character with a history in darkness allowed me as the writer to keep the reader side by side with Camille, learning about who she was as Camille did. It reminded me a bit of how Harry Potter knew nothing of magical world and as a reader you were able to learn with him what everything was, revealing the world to you like a present to your hungry eyes. The idea to start Camille in a stat of amnesia came from the very first moment of writing. I knew I wanted her abilities to shine through, but without the knowledge of where those skills came from would make her history that much more intriguing it would also outline her as slightly dangerous; though to whom it remains to be seen.
Her instincts told her to act first and think on her feet, and that innate, animalistic sense of battle preparation still startled her. How did she know these things?
– Praetorian Rising, Chapter 2 – Hide and Seek
Camille’s red hair and physical appearance came straight out of my dream, and yet you see a photo of me and you might smile because I too have red hair and green eyes. It wasn’t really purposeful by any means, but it rings honest in how I see myself reflected in the struggles Camille experiences throughout this series.
For me, Camille is young looking but also a bit on the adult side. She has a woman’s face, a childs exuberance, and the eyes of a person that you know has been through something horrific. Sometimes you can see the demons within a person through the windows into their soul. With Camille, her dark history is scribbled all over her features and yet she has no idea what that history is.
My intention for Camille Scipio is to be the spark of a story as she was the ignition to this book series for me as a writer. It was her that I found so intriguing as a character and someone I couldn’t seem to ignore, nor forget. After the dream I’d had of her kicking serious ass and being a warrior, I had to know more. What made her like that, how had she come to be, where had she come from, and what made her…her? I had so many questions and it was then I knew and understood how to play out her story much like most of experience our own stories. I wanted to share a character that you can understand, accept as a possible friend, and defend as family. Camille isn’t just a special character to me, she is the entire reason Praetorian Rising was born into existence.
Stay tuned for more information about Praetorian Rising, Aspera, and the characters within this incredible new series. I can’t wait to share more with you! If you can’t contain your excitement and you want to know more, reach out! I am MORE than down to talk to my readers about the story and the characters. If you are interested in getting an authors copy, I am always happy to discuss options with you 🙂 Praetorian Rising to me is my heart and soul on the page, and I want to share this with everyone.
I’ve decided it’s high time to put more effort into living life in a streamlined, minimal, and grown up fashion. I have carried tokens and things from my teenage years but it high time that I step into a more grown up world. Right now my life feels full of clutter and I am tired of it.
I have some serious plans to restructure and update my world, and right now my first priority is to clean and remove anything I havent used in the last 6 months. There is soooo much to remove. I have already bagged three full trash bags full of clothes that I took to goodwill. But I’m going to keep going and expand on this mindset.
First, I want to start gardening. Which is difficult to do when I live in an apartment. However, there are ways to make it happen! I found a plant growing system that enables me to grow plants inside and I’m super excited! Especially because I get no light in my apartment, literally I’m in a shadowed apartment and it’s the worst! Hard to be an adult and grow my own herbs without sunlight.
So to tackle this no light issue, I got this awesome indoor plant growing set! I’m really excited about it. I opened it up today to take my first step toward awesome fun style adulting.
The little pods that I’ll put the soil into to.
This little set up I think is going to work perfectly to get me started. I also got two lights to clip onto my plant shelves so I can continue to grow some flowers, indoor plants, and of course LAVENDAR!!!!!!
Stay tuned for my next venture in being more adult as well as digging into the streamlined lifestyle!
I have battled with my own internal voice on if I should read or should not read the reviews people post about Praetorian Rising. I feel two sides of this coin…
- I want to read to understand the readers point of view. I like to hear the good of what people liked, just as much as I want to hear the ways I can improve. Reading a “bad” review can be just as helpful and encouraging as a “good” review. In my thought, if someone picked up your book, read it, took the time to review it, AND gave you some critical points for you to address as an author it’s then a “good” review.
- Reading a review less than 4 star’s on Goodreads or Amazon is a bit of a hit to your author’s pride. You want everyone to love and adore your writing. You slaved for MONTHS and sometimes YEARS to get this story perfect and in less than a few sentences someone can tear that all to shreds. Reading a “bad” review can really hurt, and sometimes it’s impossible not to focus on that one bad review even though you have several really incredible reviews.
Every single review is a way for a random reader to tell other soon to be readers whether or not, in their opinion, this book should be picked up and read.
I have fallen into the group of writers who has indeed read every single one of my reviews. And now that I have put myself through it, I find it was VERY beneficial and enjoyable, also heartbreaking and tough. The more I read through them, the more I realized that these reviews are actually not for me at all. Every single review is a way for a random reader to tell other soon to be readers whether or not, in their opinion, this book should be picked up and read. If you think about it that way, then you realize that each review is based upon their own focus of opinion and in truth has very little to do with your writing and more to do with the style of you book and how it effected and touched them as a person.
…like a total nerd, I read through the silmarillion because I couldn’t get enough of this world that J.R.R Tolkien had created.
Confession, the first time I read the Hobbit I hated it. Granted, I was in fifth grade and I honestly feel at that point the mindset and writing of the story was a bit beyond me. The characters felt strange, and the setting was hard to imagine. I didn’t understand the underlining story or the purpose of the adventure. I knew little, and cared about it less. UNTIL I was told to reread it as an adult. When I was seventeen, after the release of the first Lord of the Rings movies, I went back and reread The Hobbit. I couldn’t believe how much I loved it. I didn’t want the world to stop. I quickly read through the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy and then, like a total nerd, I read through the silmarillion because I couldn’t get enough of this world that J.R.R Tolkien had created. It wasn’t actually his writing or the world that changed my opinion, it was the way I connected with the story and the characters at a time when I needed that story to fill my mind.
I too have read books and thought to myself, “Well that was a waste of my time.” I won’t go into details on ones I hated, but what I will say is that there is DEFINITELY a type of person that likes certain authors and ones who don’t. Just because I hated a book, doesn’t mean someone else will. There is a time and place for all types of writers, and I can’t honestly say with full conviction that an author wrote a crap book. First, because it’s actually REALLY hard to write a book. And second, because every book is it’s own voice. Lord of the Rings is a fantasy book with deeper meaning and a culture of magic and wonder. I can’t put that book up in comparison to 50 Shades of Grey which started as a fanfiction love series. They are different, on MULTIPLE levels, and yet both authors found fame and success because they identified a target audience.
So back to the original question, to read or not to read your own reviews. I feel like I personally have quite thick skin. I am able to take in critiques and listen to them for what they are. Personal input from someone else. Two of the best critques I have received so far…
- Praetorian Rising should have been longer. It needed more depth into the world and a richer sense of the culture and surroundings. It was too damn short.
- Needs a map. I couldn’t agree more to this, and I PROMISE to release a map before Book 2 as well as release several maps WITHIN book 2.
So, will I read my reviews in the future? Most likely yes. Every once in a while when the mood strikes I undoubtedly will. But, I understand that I do this at my own risk. I will make a note however NEVER to read a review that is under 3 stars. There is no reason to for me. If someone hated it enough to give it only 1 or 2 stars, then their critique isn’t worth my time. I believe the 1 to 2 stars would be enough to tell me they hated the style and world I built and I don’t need to know anymore. It’s their opinion, and I accept that.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you feel reading reviews on your writing is good, bad, helpful, or absolutely a waste of time. Would love to hear your feedback!
Adventures come when we least expect it, and sometimes in ways we did not plan. In looking back at those adventures when everything worked out we are able to laugh about it. When IN the adventure and the not knowing panic of WILL I MAKE IT OUT of this thing, some people (looks at a self in mirror) don’t always handle these moments with grace.
The day started out lovely, with a delightful breakfast at this UBER hipster spot just next to the train station in Belfast. It’s called Yahi….and all their shirts read, ‘Say, Ya hi!’ I had an AMAZING scone with butter and jam, a latte, and a brown toast, butter, cinnamon and banana slice. My day started out amazingly, it really did.
Yahi cafe in Belfast.
We walked over to the bus location where we boarded our tour bus. And YES we did do the Game of Thrones Tour. It was amazing, but in a way of seeing the pride and love Ireland has for what Game of Thrones and HBO has given them. It was a delight to listen to Pete, our Tour guide, talk about the loyal adoration he has not just for his country but also the prosperity HBO has given to Ireland. Once we got moving, the excitement picked up!
Our first stop was in a little town just outside Belfast where they filmed the location of Arya popping up out of the water in Bravos after getting stabbed. It was amazing to see the scene in the episode and then actually seeing the location itself. Thinking from a film perspective of having the entire film crew, cameras, under water operators and actors all nudged into this tiny spot made me see how incredible a feat filming can be. Not to mention how much fun it would be to do location scouting for shows like this!
Our next stop were the caves where Melisandre gave birth to the demon assassin! Walking up, it looked like nothing at all but once you passed by the residential area you realize that holy crap, THIS IS THE SPOT! And as we entered the cave area the guide turned to our group and asked if we knew the secret secondary filming location. Once we rounded the corner I screamed out, ‘Holy crap this is where Euron Greyjoy died!’ Pete looked at me in shock and said, ‘Wow, you do know the show. No one has been able to guess that before.’ I felt quite happily smug. Back onto the bus and to the next location!
Giants Causeway! This was the main attraction and of course the main point of our tour. We jumped off the bus with the tour guide saying, ‘1:50pm return time, see you back here in just over an hour!’
This location was incredible to say the least. Just wow. The stone formations and the scale of this incredible landscape was breathtaking. Each stone had such angled edges, it in no way looks to be nature made but it is indeed made by nature. There was a great hike to the hillside peaks just past the giants causeway and we were able to look back over the scenery. It was just….well incredibly gorgeous doesnt quite do it justice.
They told a great amount of stories, myths and geological history of what made the stones they way they are. The best stories were about Fin the giants who lived in the mountains beside the causeway.
On our way back, we checked our watches realizing it was only 1:20, we had plenty of time. We casually strolled through the stores and shops and meandered our way through the parking lot and arrived to our bus right at 12:50. Well…it looked like our bus, but the driver suddenly had hair and the tour guide was NOT Pete. I turned to Bjorn with panic in my eyes and said, ‘Babe, I left my bag with our passports on the bus.’ Our bus was gone.
We walked back to the visitor center with much less leisure and much more panic. I approached on of the attendants and explained my situation to him and he said, ‘no worries we have all the bus information details of what tour you were on. Do you know where you are going next?’
I did know, so I practically screamed it at him in my panic and he just smiled. ‘We will get you there my dear, no problem at all.’ They called us a taxi, confirmed our bus was indeed at the lunch place that I had remembered we were going next and with in ten minutes we were on our way to Fullerton Arms. When we drove up I saw our bus parked and whispered, ‘Thank the lord!’ As we pulled up, we walked in and found our tour guide and he popped out of his chair and said, ‘oh thank god you are here! I was so worried we lost you!’ The bus had left at 1:40….not 1:50. Derp.
Crazily enough, we sat down just as our food arrived that we had preordered. So all in all, it was really great timing and our short lived panic enducing moment turned into giggles, guinness and deliciously warm steak and Guinness pie.
Just before we left Fullerton Arms we were able to take photos on the ‘iron’ throne with props. It was all totally hokey and fun, and completely worth it.
Our next stop, Carrick Rope Bridge were you cross over a rope bridge that is 100 ft distance between you and the very chilly blue green water below. I’m afraid of heights. You can imagine my reaction…
It was beautiful, terrifying, and delightfully fun. Our next stop though a quick one was also extremely enjoyable. We drove to the dark hedges where the kings guard rode through beneath the intertwined beech trees. They were quite a sight and it would have been incredible to see them at 6am with fog rolling through the country town.
As we wrapped our tour, I was over the moon with the amount of sights we’d been able to see and the level of adventure we embarked on. I also learned a very valuable lesson; bring your bag with you EVERYWHERE! And having a handful of cash on hand is always a good idea.
I think one of the best parts about being a tourist is noticing the subtle differences and beauties of being in another culture. Small things you would never think of before, but suddenly make all the sense for the culture and world in front of you.
Small things… in the UK they dont say ‘to-go’, they say ‘take away’. And at first I was taken off guard, partially because I cant hear very well so I heard the woman say, ‘I’ll take it away.’ And I thought, I just bought this lady! Why would you take it away!! But as she continued to pointedly stare at my bemused expression my brain realized what she meant and I squeaked, ‘oh, take away!’ I got my coffee and my macarons and I scuttled out of there feeling oh so very american.
The UK legit doesnt do drip coffee, they make fresh and delicious coffee all the time. So when I was sitting in a cafe for breakfast in Edinburgh and asked the woman for a top off on my latte, she looked at me funny and I realized I just made another american oopsie. She replied with, ‘Americano?’ And I smiled and said, ‘yes please.’ She brought me a fresh cup of coffee and I promptly poured it into my latte bowl/cup.
So a favorite part of Scotland for me is taking the tours. Two things, Scotland makes the bulk of its money in tourism so you can TOTALLY be scammed, but I won’t lie, these tours are worth every damn penny. While staying in Inverness, we had the pleasure of doing a Rabbie’s Tour to Isle of Skye. Most amazing tour EVER. We truly were able to see the highlands in all its glory. Up close and frigidly personal….yeah it was cold. On this tour, our amazing tour guide told us a plethora of Scottish history, and there is MUCH to say about Scottish history. We drove past a brown, hairy, scottish cow and three of the passengers went, “awwwwwwwww!” So the driver stopped and said, “al’right, you want to see the wee Scottish coo’s?” And all of us silly americans squealed and replied, “Yes! We want to see the Scottish Coo’s!” Needless to say I will never call a cow a ‘cow’ ever again.
On our last night in Inverness, my husband and I wanted to do dinner justice. Because it’s such a small yet busy town, we spent our morning touring the town and slipping into restaurants to make reservations for the evening. Yes, we had to go to multiple places to check because at 2pm in the afternoon places were already solidly booked. Crazy talk, right!? Well we found a place for dinner and a second place for drinks and desserts. We went to dinner at Prime Steak and Seafood, it was really very good. When the waitress asked if we wanted dessert, we said, ‘oh no, we are good,’ before smiling at one another knowing we were going to a other location to get yummy desserts. As we walked from one restaurant to the next, we felt giddy about our evening. And then we approached our venue and saw a mass amount of crazy lights and hard hitting club music and we turned to each other with befuddled expressions. When we walked inside and screamed at the attending bartender that we had a reservation he looked at us oddly and screamed back, ‘kitchen closed at 9pm! No food service, only drinks!!’ Well it was a good thing we’d already eaten before the fine dining restaurant turned into a college dance party. Silly Americans, first you eat dinner and then you bump and grind, obvi!!!
We are now sitting at the airport waiting for our flight to Belfast and we got here EARLY because you ALWAYS get to the airport 17 hours early for international flights, right? That’s what my mother told me, and I stick by that advice…..when in a huge airport. We are not in a huge airport and the three hours early we got here was pointless because we can’t check our bags any earlier than 2 hours before the flight. So here I sit, waiting for my flight to arrive and I sincerely look forward to all the sights to see, food to eat, and silly american snafoo’s to come my way in Ireland.
I wouldn’t consider myself the most worldly of people, not in the least, but I do love to travel. I’ve found my heart in Scotland and it’s hard for me to imagine wanting to go anywhere else.
Scotland is so incredibly rich with history and uniqueness of its age. I’ve been to several main cities, but so far Edinburgh is where I’ve spent the most time. This city is incredible. It mixes the old with new so effortlessly that it’s hard to imagine it only one way or the other. I’d label it as quaint, but I dont feel like that fully captures the heart of Edinburgh.
I think what I found so beautiful about this place is the magic I feel in the air when walking through the streets, closes, and monuments. This place is rich in history, but also in its pride. This National Monument of Scotland was built to commemorate honor to those that fought in the war agai st Napoleon. The building plans were rich and lavish, stylized after the pantheon. However they made it this far into the build and ran out of money, and never finished it. There was no negativity with that failure to complete the build, only pride.
‘Look at this grand structure! It’s beautiful!’
– Any Scottish person in the general vicinity of The National Monument of Scotland
And it is, even if it’s half finished its grand and beautiful.
My next stop on this trip is Inverness. I have a feeling I’ll have many scenes to write on my train ride up north. I’ve found much inspiration for book 2 in the Praetorian Rising series and I can’t wait to get to the meat and potatoes of this book series.
Until next time my Rogues, Ad Astra per Aspera.
I won’t name names, because that is rude and we are all supposed to lift each other up in this industry of writing, reading, and all around general day dreaming. BUT….there is one person (although there are quite a few that I have found) that I really just can’t stand anymore and I used to LOVE this author.
I won’t say if he is a he or if she is a she, for now we will call this author, ‘Author’. Author was one of my absolute FAVORITES. I looked up to this person and really strived to BE like them on multiple levels. They had a blog that was quirky and fun, a following that full of true and devoted fans, and a story that was loved my MILLIONS! After the first book of this person’s series was released they were smiling, humble, and genuine. I was so happy for them, so happy for what they were doing for the writing world. I felt pride for this person!
And then their second book came out, followed by a movie deal for the series. And it started to take a turn. Author changed their blog to something a bit less personal. Comments were no longer allowed. And I chalked this up to, “Author is now very busy, and answering comments all day is EXHAUSTING!” Their twitter and instagram was growing and becoming, I’m most certain, very hard to handle.
But then the movie came out, and the third book was released and Author was very suddenly a different person. There was a strange pretentiousness about this person and their typically quirky fun attitude became elitist and no longer likeable.
Like I has said before, I don’t like to judge people. We are all living our lives, but I look at Author and find myself wishing for that success and yet dreading the possibility of falling into the trap that Author did. When you are surrounded by people that are self focused, their career being centered on them and their looks and less on the world of writing and their work, it changes the dynamic of the person’s persona.
I know, I know what you are thinking….’Jessie, why are you talking down on this author?’ And I know, I don’t want to talk down on ANY writer, but I think more what I am doing is seeing what I don’t want to become and vowing never to become that because as a fan I was so very disappointed with the direction that Author went.
As a writer I want to connect with my readers, I want to discuss my writing and books with people. Not just the positive side though of everything I do, of but also the negative side of what people feel could be better. I want to grow as a writer and encourage my readers and followers to show me their sides, thoughts, opionions and ideas. I want to discuss their books and writing, their passions and desires. The last thing I ever want to be is a propped up writer with a marketing person on my blog and social media sites, an agent keeping me from doing what I feel might work best, and a publisher that hinders the outcome of the story I am desperately ACHING to tell you all.
My goal is to always be genuine, always be open, always be honest to the person I am on the inside. Is this a difficult thing to do? Right now, no, but in the future, maybe? I don’t know because I’m not there yet. But I do sincerely hope that for that one person who reads this blog in the future and sees what I am doing and loves what I have accomplished will also be the same person to call me on my shiat if EVER I become an overly self loving egotistical ass hat, that posts ridiculous pictures of my most recent trip to the Carribean this year, just off my private jet, in a bikini that costs more than most peoples rent with a quote of, ‘just another day being me’, that this person take it upon themselves to SLAP the ever living Ma’Nada out of me for acting like such a pretentious TERD!
Please, I beg of you. Don’t let me do that. And I promise you my lovely follower that read that entire rant….I will NEVER become that person. Thank you, I adore you. And now back to all things fun, loving, and positive like these donuts I am about to eat!
